


Then and Now

by duneice



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean marks! Lance, Christmas, Earth, Family, Fluff, Future Fic, Healing, Leader of the Lesbian Squad Keith, M/M, Spoilers, a quote for effect, a touch of sad, but everything is going to be fine, keith visits his favorite person in the whole wide universe, mentioned Veronica, post-season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 00:17:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duneice/pseuds/duneice
Summary: It's Christmas day.Lance has many thoughts, up until Keith appears once again- he then can't remember how to speak for the life of him.





	Then and Now

**Author's Note:**

> just a little love for my boys. their future is going to be fine. if you haven't watched season 8 yet (save yourself the pain), this fic contains spoilers.

  
  
Then.

 

Another day.

 

Under the sinking sun, the stillness of the late, breezy afternoon could only be interrupted by the tell tale calls of the animals he tended to. It was nearing twilight hour, and that was the sign Lance needed that told him he had to wrap up his daily work with the usual routine. Last minute details meant he had to check to make sure everything was well enough and comfortable for the beef cattle, the poultry, the hogs, and the rest of the small animals he managed to gather and save within his five-hundred acre farm.

 

Not that he was using the _entire_ space capacity of the land he owned, of course. And, surprisingly enough, they offered him more than what he initially received.

 

With the way things were looking back then, he just couldn’t imagine himself owning that much land without the hope of having a larger family to help him with all of the maintenance….

 

But that was back then. It was a different time, and things had certainly changed throughout the years.

 

Lance took the time to look over his favorite girl, still alive and kicking even after all this time. She was no ordinary cow, he knew that much. Or at least, he had enough evidence to claim she was some sort of evolutionized space cow… To this day, Kaltenecker doesn’t appear to have aged a single day!

 

Space cows, he thought and rolled his eyes, rubbing her back as she lazily moo’d at him, all while chewing on some delicious hay.

 

Now, things were much different. Gripping the hoe between fingers lazily, he continued to rub the space cow’s back as he reminisced quietly, leaning into her a little for support.

 

After Allura…..

 

He had believed wholefully that he’d never be able to achieve the greatness that she once spoke of, long ago, when the two of them were alone in that state of the art, Castle of Lions’ training room.

 

Then...

 

He had believed that she took it with her, his greatness was out there, dancing in the stars, decorating the night sky with the brilliance of the cosmos, the strengths of the suns, the vastness of the never-ending empty space.

 

Now…

 

He smiled softly at the memories. His throat unconsciously constricted, but he swallowed hard to will away the nostalgic memories, the feelings that every day threatened to overtake his very stable, very potent well-being.

 

Perhaps he was feeling nostalgic this particular day because it was a special day. Long gone were most of the holidays of old. All but this one. Never this one.

 

Christmas.

 

It meant family. It meant love. It meant happiness.

 

By no means was it a White Christmas - the seasons of Earth had changed in routine after its invasion years ago. Many things changed, but people put in the effort to preserve the most important things mankind still had the chance to hold on to.

 

And they did.

 

Christmas meant reunions. Lance’s lips stretched into a smile at the knowledge of what was to come.

 

Now.

 

One person seemed to remain a constant in his life, aside from, of course, his immediate family. The very person he had once envied, admired, rivaled, joined, fought, protected, stood beside…

 

He was always there. Whether the other wanted to be there or not, they always found themselves gravitating to each other by some inexplicable, unnatural force. On the surface, Lance didn’t have too much to go off from. Allura had been everything he had ever dreamed of, became everything he physically _did_ dream of after her death, and then….

 

Well, he thought, somewhat melancholic, _now_ only her memory lingers. She’s always there.

 

But Keith.

 

He’s expecting to see him today. In fact, not only is he looking forward to it, but his body, his entire being, is aching to see him once more.

 

It took him years to warm up to the idea of the importance that Keith held in his own personal life. But when he did accept it, he fell into the absolute oblivion that was waiting for him with open arms and with no hope of salvation from its embrace. His fall was hard and it was fast, much like his own persona usually entailed. Keith was patient, God, was he patient… But Lance didn’t want him to be patient anymore.

 

He’d been patient for too damn long.

 

Lost in his thoughts, Lance didn’t hear the approaching footsteps behind him, light against the soft grass as they neared. To his defense, his boyfriend was the damn leader of the Blade of Marmora - they were stealth Galra ninjas!

 

“And here I thought you’d start without me.”

 

His voice. Eyes widening at the familiar tone, Lance froze in place at its sound.

 

Nothing in the world could ever prepare him for when he’d hear the sound of his voice after weeks or even months of its absence. Lance always looked forward to the day he would hear it again - the day that he’d see the familiar face of his best friend, his team leader, the man he’d give his very life for.

 

The silliest things would come to mind, too, as if it were his brain’s way of coping for its sudden short circuiting from such an overwhelming experience he himself had condemned his mind to. Thoughts would run a million miles per second. One time, he stood still and stared at the other while all he could think of was _‘Wow, his hair is so pretty. And long. Why is his hair so pretty and long? He should put it in a ponytail, I bet that would look really cute. Don’t you think you’d look cute, Keith? Oh, right, you can’t hear me because I’m just thinking this and holy quiznak your hair is so pretty. And long- ‘_

 

Silly thoughts, shutting him off when he needed to _function_ more than ever.

 

Though, to his brain’s coping mechanism’s defense, it was the reason why Keith now wore his hair back in a ponytail. It was a very good look on him, and it was all Lance’s doing because the minute he opened his mouth, then, he couldn’t shut up about his hair and how it was so pretty but so long and he either needed a haircut (to which Keith immediately frowned upon) or he needed to tie it back.

 

Now, however, his mind occupied itself with other thoughts entirely. To his dismay, they brought more sappy thoughts to surface. Upon hearing Keith’s voice, all Lance could think of was how he could, and would, recognize that voice anywhere.

 

It reminded him of the lines of a book he had read a couple of months ago. The voice of his mind recited the lines in his head.

 

_" I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell…" _

 

Once again, an invisible grip tightened its hand around a part of him. This time, he felt it at the pit of his stomach.

 

“Lance…”

 

Keith was closer now, just inches behind him. Lance couldn’t see that he was standing there, his patience, acutely developed and fine-tuned over the years, allowed him to just hold off and wait for the other, and the clothing of his fabric rustled a little when he shifted ever so slightly to drop the bags he had in his hands to hold his arms against his sides.

 

_"I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth…"  _

 

Lance, get it together.

 

He wanted to tell himself, instead of not saying anything at all - instead of not responding to the other’s call when he was _right there_. After about a month of waiting for him again, he was there.

 

It wasn’t until he finally heard himself release a breath, that he kicked back into gear and turned around quickly, too suddenly; he met his stare eagerly, as if what he’d been deprived of was water while he was stuck in a desert and an oasis had just appeared in sight.

 

The slow stretch of Keith’s lips, the delicate upturn of the corner of his mouth, was a movie Lance wanted to replay forever and ever. He burned it in his memory right then and there. Stored it away safely to replay it time and time again whenever he felt lonely or sad.

 

Because it wasn’t a perfect world, and he wasn’t a perfect human. Sad times did come, but what made the difference was the way he coped during such times.

 

Keith became Lance’s stability, too. Fate worked in funny ways, more sardonic than anything. Every day was a new challenge to leave the past in the past, and a new opportunity to continue reaching for the future.

 

Said future which was standing right in front of him.

 

Lance reached out. Keith’s hand came up to meet him halfway. Their fingers danced briefly in their meet, slipping into a familiar rhythm as they entwined around each other lovingly.

 

“Sor-”

 

“ _Lance_ , it’s okay.”

 

“I missed you.”

 

“I missed you, too.”

 

Keith’s other hand reached up to cup Lance’s cheek in the curve of his palm. He took a step closer, and Lance’s heart did a weird flip in his chest. Delicately, he felt a calloused thumb rub the skin of his prominent cheekbone. For some reason, his skin was sensitive in that area.

 

Keith knew, yet he did it anyway. Lance could tell he was aware by the way his eyes wrinkled at the corners, gaze fixed on the skin he was touching.

 

Lance smiled, chuckling a little, and at the action he could barely tell Keith had released a held breath in a sort of muted scoff.

 

“Beautiful…,” came his whisper. Lance wanted to tell him he could hear him, but he decided against it when Keith closed the distance between them and they stood face to face, staring into each other’s eyes for another moment, before Keith leaned in to press a soft kiss on his face mark.

 

Oh, how Lance had fallen.

 

It was a gesture of comfort, of acceptance, a reminder to Lance that he was there, always, the very person he needed to find solace in.

 

The bright glow of his marks illuminating both their expressions was just an added bonus, and Keith’s fond stare returned once more, eyebrows relaxing while his head tilted ever so slightly at the sight.

 

“My samurai’s a sight for sore eyes.” Lance wanted to cut the electric charge between them, but his efforts yielded no avail. Keith only smiled wider at the attempt. They were both fated for this future.

 

“I wouldn’t be if my sharpshooter decided to come with me to lend me a hand out there.”

 

Classic Keith. All about responsibility. At least he was learning by responding to Lance with his own nickname. Credit had to be given where it was due.

 

“.... maybe I’ll take you up on that offer one day. For now, let’s go inside so you can clean up. Veronica’s gonna chew my head off for making Christmas dinner wait… “ Lance leaned in and Keith did the same, their foreheads touching ever so gently as they enjoyed their quiet moment together.

 

“...Can we back-track a little and acknowledge that you said you’d take me up on the offer one day?”

 

Lance closed his eyes and grinned. He knew Keith wasn’t going to ignore something he’s wanted for a while now.

 

“Consider it an early Christmas gift. I’m bound to follow my team leader eventually.”

 

“I love you.”

 

A small chuckle escaped his lips at how forward Keith was. “I love you, too.”

 

 

  
_" ’I would know him in death, at the end of the world.’" _

**Author's Note:**

> the quote, as you all know, comes from Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. hahaha it hurts and i love it *sigh*
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed this little drabble! drop me some love via kudos/comments <3 visit me on twitter.com/o_klaaance !


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